Attorney: Man accused of killing stepfather had no motive

SAN DIEGO – The man accused of killing his stepfather in a staged robbery had no reason to kill the man, whom he saw as a protector from his mother's abuse, a defense attorney said during opening statements in the man's murder trial Monday afternoon.

Nathaniel Gann, 20, is being tried in the same courtroom as his 19-year-old sister, Brae Hansen, in the shooting death of their stepfather, Timothy MacNeil, on July 19, 2007.

Gann is accused of firing four shots at his stepfather, including a fatal shot to the back of the head. A previous jury that heard Gann's case declared a mistrial in November.

This is the first trial for Hansen, who is accused of hatching the plot and helping her brother commit the slaying.

Both Hansen and Gann, whose cases are being heard by separate juries, have been charged with murder and a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait.

A jury heard opening statements in Hansen's case Monday morning. A separate jury for Gann heard opening statements in the afternoon. They will all return Tuesday to begin hearing evidence in the trial.

Prosecutor George Bennett said Hansen plotted the killing in detail. The siblings, he said, tried to make it look as though MacNeil, a 63-year-old attorney, was killed during a robbery at his Rolando home.

Bennett later told Gann's jury that witnesses reported seeing a man run from MacNeil's home after the shooting. One of the witnesses saw the intruder get into a truck that was the same make, model and color as Gann's.

DNA found on the gun used in the shooting matched that of Hansen, Gann and their mother, Doreen, who previously owned the gun, Bennett said.

The prosecutor also told jurors that Gann “shared details only the killer would know” to a Phoenix inmate at a jail where he was being kept in custody.

Gann's defense attorney, Ricardo Garcia, described his client to jurors as a young man who endured extensive abuse from his mother, who suffered from serious mental health problems.

The abuse, Garcia said, “was violent and it was excessive. ... She would beat Nathaniel with a 2-by-4 (piece of wood) and tie him up to chairs,” Garcia said.

Gann moved away to Arizona to live with his grandmother at the age of 12 to avoid his mother's abuse, Garcia said. MacNeil had already married his mother and Gann saw his stepfather as a protector from some of his mother's violent episodes, Garcia said.

The mother overdosed on pills in 2006.

The defense attorney also told jurors Gann's fingerprints were not found on the gun and said his client did not have gunshot residue on his hands.

Earlier in the day, a jury for his sister, Brae Hansen, heard attorneys' opening statements in her case.

Hansen's defense attorney, Troy Britt, conceded his client set the plan for the killing in motion, but tried to stop it before it happened.

Bennett told jurors Hansen lived with MacNeil since she was a little girl and he treated her as if she were his biological daughter. He took her on trips all over the world, he said.

The day of the shooting, police found her with her hands tied behind her back and did not initially consider her a suspect, Bennett said.

“Up until that point in time, the evidence will show that Brae Hansen had been a good actress,” Bennett said.

Hansen, he said, told police a masked gunman killed MacNeil. But her story changed in subsequent interviews with a police detective, he said.

“She slipped. She used a name. She called the intruder 'Nate',” Bennett said.

Britt, Hansen's defense attorney, said his client plotted the killing with her brother, who at one point suggested hiring a hit man.

The lawyer said Hansen was an “immature 17-year-old” who made a bad decision. She had been mad at MacNeil and wanted him dead, he said. However, she had a change of heart and pleaded with Gann to stop the plot, the attorney said.

Britt told jurors the issue as to whether Hansen is guilty or not “is her withdrawal” from the plan.

“She made a horrible decision. I'm asking for a not-guilty verdict because she wanted to get out of it,” the defense attorney said.

If convicted, the siblings could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.